Children will learn a great deal of language and communication skills in childcare. In fact, simply exposing them to people, academic opportunities, and other children will accelerate their ability to comprehend messages, express themselves, and learn written language.
There are four key components of language skills that a child needs to learn before they start school. We go into detail about what these are and how Go Kindy endorses them in our curriculum and learning approaches.
If there is any critical advice you can take from this blog, it’s to expose your child to these 4 key areas of language development to make a profound difference to your child’s development and perception of the world around them.
Four Simple Language Components To Remember
As you learn what these language components are, think about what they mean for the child’s earliest learning stages, where everything they learn is the foundation for their language and communication.
The following terms identify the 4 key areas of development that help children become fluent in language and communication. They tie in closely with other areas of development, such as cognitive (intellectual understanding of the world), physical (body language and movement), and social (emotional intelligence and relationships).
Receptive Language - Understanding What Is Said To Them
Receptive language is one of the first components your child will likely learn - typically before they can even talk. This often comes naturally when parents talk to their children from infancy. The child will pick up words and build connections between what they hear and the outcomes associated with those sounds, learning meaning.
Their understanding in this area will advance over time, helping them decipher between verbal and nonverbal communication.
With your children and toddlers staying with Go Kindy, they’ll have much exposure to the world they’ll grow up in. We provide opportunities for children to grow in this area, and you might see your child start to look more closely at their surroundings, show curiosity about their toys, and observe people around them.
Expressive Language - Communicating With Expression
Expressive language builds as children learn to speak, a stage that soon follows the receptive language skills. It is the ability to use purposeful sounds, tones, and gestures to communicate what they feel and think. This stage is very important because it teaches children to express themselves openly in ways others can empathise with.
At Go Kindy, expression is an important part of our literacy approach, where we teach children, through storytelling, how to express emotions, empathise with what they hear, use their bodies to convey feelings, and more. We make the most of immersing curious minds in books, giving them opportunities to become successful learners and confident communicators.
Emergent Reading - Understanding Written Text
Emergent reading will become noticeable in development when the child can speak effectively. If you’re a frequent reader to your child (highly recommended for young toddlers), they’ll have picked up on the foundations in visual interpretation, comprehension, and even social skills.
With these in place, the child is ready to begin decoding letters and symbols of text and familiarising themselves with the meaning of these written forms. Go Kindy fosters growth in this area by encouraging literacy development through a learning approach designed to teach kids vocabulary, sounds, and reading. It also funnels well into the writing component of language and communication, which we touch on next.
If you want to find out more about the effectiveness of reading to your little ones, see our article here.
Emergent Writing - Writing To Convey Meaning
Emergent writing feeds off the skills that develop in emergent reading. As part of the learning process, a child will put their reading skills into practice through handwritten learning. This component is all about learning to hold writing utensils, to mark paper with the correct letters and symbols to convey meaning, and to spell.
As part of Go Kindy’s literacy approach and language curriculum, children at our childcare centres learn to transfer ideas from their little minds onto paper, communicating in nonverbal and expressive ways.
Read About The Go Kindy Curriculum
Every child has a place in this world, which is why helping them build the foundations helps them settle onto a path where they have room to grow. Go Kindy values every child and their strengths, offering a comprehensive curriculum that sets your little ones up for success. We cover all aspects of developmental activities, from physical and social to language and academics. You can read about our curriculum here or talk to one of our friendly staff members.